Sunday Roundup

This week, the branches of government traded checks and balances for sticks and stones. First, President Obama fired a shot across the Supreme Court's bow, saying that to strike down his health care law would be "an unprecedented, extraordinary step." Though not actually unprecedented, it would, in fact, be extraordinary -- but not as extraordinary as what came next: a Court of Appeals judge, hearing a related case, asked the Justice Department to turn in a three-page, single-spaced letter, signed by Eric Holder, explaining the executive branch's position on judicial review, a move that embarrassed even some conservative legal experts. The attorney general's response to the unusual homework assignment fell a bit short; it was only two-and-a-half pages long. Doesn't the AG know all he had to do was make his margins bigger, add a bibliography, and start off with a long quote?